WEBSITE MARKET REPORT
24 October 2008

Banks v Property - Where to Invest?

Try to Break the Bank in Monte Carlo

Roulette is a fun way of gambling and almost certainly a sure way of losing your money. On the other hand, there are stocks and shares, another way of gambling and, some would say, not as enjoyable as playing roulette and, as we have seen, lots of risks involved and it appears another way at the moment to lose money.

Then, of course, there is Wild Bill and Roy Rogers, the cowboy bankers. Until recently you felt secure in placing savings with a bank but, to our horror, we have now discovered to risk your savings with a bank may have almost as many problems and lack of security as playing roulette or playing the stock market.

The alternative is to invest your savings in property; there has never been such a good time as the present market in which to trade up. Invest your spare cash in your home and your castle, be secure in the knowledge that UK and world economics will stabilise and with it house prices. In the meantime, you and your family have been secure that you are living surrounded by a major investment; you know where your cash is and you know property markets are cyclical. Prices on this little island, just by the law of supply and demand, will increase and over the years you will have been in full control of your investment and have had the enjoyment and happiness being surrounded by your bricks and mortar without the fear of losing at the Monte Carlo tables, a bank failure notice or a broker's letter informing you that your shares have become worthless for no fault of your own.

An Englishman's home is his castle.

Our attitude to present market conditions:

When the market is not quite so vibrant, the vendor needs the experience and conscientious service that Dudley Singleton & Daughter provide. In the 30 odd years we have been in business we have seen the face of the market change continuously - recessions, peaks, troughs - we have seen them all, but there is still no doubt historically as can be seen on this website of properties we have sold in the past and properties we have sold again recently, investment in our area is fantastic. So, when you buy into this part of the world, you not only buy a home in a wonderful area with easy access to major centres of commerce, but you are making perhaps the soundest investment of your life.

Aggressive and persistent marketing does pay dividends and certainly at Dudley Singleton & Daughter we never relax - we never stop advertising, we never stop showing just because a property has not sold immediately - and we continually keep in close contact with our vendors, advising them of market conditions and also of the comments, because feed-back is so important, from applicants who have viewed their property. This type of interactive dialogue and communication not only instils confidence in the vendor, but also allows the vendor to build a picture of what the market place thinks of his property, whether he needs to make any improvements or adjust the price. Dudley Singleton & Daughter are not afraid to give you advice on reasonable improvements that would give you more saleability and, at the end of the day, a better selling price.

Another important factor that can only come from experience, in the first month of marketing it will become very clear to a vendor just what the market thinks of their property. It is a common fault in agency, lack of communication, which Dudley Singleton & Daughter will not tolerate.

It is our opinion that truth is always of paramount importance and truthful, constant feed-back and advice create not only a rapport and trust between agent and vendor, but will have the knock-on effect of a proposed purchaser and applicant feeling confident to trust the information and help that Dudley Singleton & Daughter will give when they open negotiations to purchase a property. This combination of factors inevitably leads to a sale at the fullest possible price in the prevailing market.

We are, after all, a family firm with nearly 35 years of trading from the same office in Pangbourne, a dedicated team of mature professionals who know their business, Dudley Singleton, Katherine Singleton, Lesley Beardsley, Jane Harms, Audrey Walton. No badly trained youthful staff here, no patronising pompous attitudes, no large egos here that overshadow the care and consideration for both their vendors and their applicants. I know some agents who believe they are doing a vendor a favour taking on their property and selling their home and they believe themselves to be more important that either vendor or applicant almost to the extent sometimes both vendors and applicants when they ring those agents' offices appear to be a bit of a nuisance. We are the opposite; our vendors are the most important people. However, we never forget to make absolutely certain that our applicants are also treated with the consideration and care they deserve, that is why we have been here for 35 years and that is why we are still instructed by clients we sold to 35 years ago.

We are in a service industry, we remind ourselves constantly of this fact and maintain an up to the minute, informed and professional attitude, coupled with care, which eases for both vendor and applicant the trauma of selling and buying.